Many
of you may be wondering who I am and how I became an Antique
Doll Dealer.So I
thought that I would share some of my history with you.

I have to be honest that as a child I was more or less a
Tomboy and I didn’t have much interest in dolls.My love of dolls developed later in life.But, as fate would have it, all of my previous
experiences have come to serve me very well as a doll collector
and dealer.

I
was born in France but raised in New York when I emigrated to
the US with my parents at the age of4. As an art student in college, I concentrated on
photography and after graduating from Brooklyn College with a BA
in Art, I traveled for some time in Europe and the Middle East
where I first developed a love for history and old objects of
art.I later earned my Master’s degree in Visual
Communications at New York Universitywhile I taught photography and Cinematography at Brooklyn
College. I switched careers when I became a videotape editor for
ABC where I worked on such shows as Good Morning America and
Nightline. But the night shift did not agree with me.I felt that I needed a new direction. I needed a to find
my passion!

I
always had an interest in art and antiques, but it wasn’t
untilmy husband Frank
and I bought an old Victorian house, that I began to seriously
pursue collecting antiques. While attending country auctions, I
often wondered why people paid so much for old, tattered looking
dolls with crooked eyes and wigless heads and broken limbs. I
was intrigued but not enough to put my money down.

TREASURES
IN A DUMPSTER

Then,
one day, while driving in my neighborhood, we came upon
an old house that was having it’s antique contents
emptied into a huge dumpster.As we drove by, I noticed a doll leg sticking out
of a cardboard box.We stopped the car and decided to investigate
further.A young man in sweaty work clothes was carrying
out boxes of assorted old items and tossing them into
the dumpster. We cringed as each box of delicate
treasures was spilled out into the gaping mouth of the
dumpster with a final clatter.We greeted him and asked, rather obviously, if he
was throwing out the items.“Yeah, it’s all

dirty
old junk” he retorted.My heart pounding, I offered, “Well, if you don’t
mind, we’ll take some of it off your hands!” “Suit
yourself,” he grumbled, “But if you ask me—I say it’s
just garbage--disgusting JUNK!”

To quote an old adage; “ One man’s garbage is another
man’s treasure.” So without too much dignity, we
scrambled into the dumpster and rapidly pulled out a few boxes
with what appeared to be old dolls and doll clothes. We
would have stayed there all day, but we were late to pick up my
parents at the airport, so we couldn’t hang around to see what
else would come out. When we returned that night, the local
people had practically emptied the entire dumpster of its
valuable contents. I often wonder what else was in
there…Brus, Jumeaux, an A.T.?…..I try not to dwell on it too
much!

BITTEN
BY THE BUG

When
we finally got to look through the boxes that we had
salvaged we found a 24” George Borgfeldt German doll
with a bisque head and composition body and a beautiful
long brown human hair wig. She had on her original
clothes and shoes as well. We also had several
composition mama dolls, a broken bisque Cuno & Otto
Dressel Shoulder-head doll on a kidskin body plus
clothes and assorted accessories.Little did I know that that experience would be a
turning point in my life!That was the day that I was bitten by the doll
bug! And I haven’t recovered yet!

A
LOVE AFFAIR

Since
then, I have fallen deeply in love with antique bisque
head dolls.I am so enthralled by their perfect beauty as
well as the ethereal aura of history and past
experiences that surrounds them. So, for the past
fifteen years I have been seriously studying,
collecting, and selling these dolls and I now have an
extensive knowledge of antique bisque head dolls
produced in France and Germany from the 1870’s to the
1930’s.You might say, that I am obsessed with
dolls.

PLAYING
WITH DOLLS

I
never knew how much fun I would have just playing with
dolls!They have brought so much joy and peace to my
life. Each new acquisition adds another spark of joy to
my heart!I consider myself very fortunate to have the
opportunity to translate my love of dolls into an
exciting career.I love to find the appropriate clothes and
accessories for them when they come to me dressed in
synthetics and plastic shoes. I love to clean off the
grime of time and reveal the beauty hidden beneath.I love to restring the dangling limbs, clean and
restyle the old wigs, and bring these little people back
to life

again!
And when I sell them, I am happy to place them in loving
homes.I can honestly say that my career is playing with
dolls!!

A
PICTURE TO REMEMBER THEM BY

I
love to photograph them! My lifelong love of photography
along with my expertise in portraiture and lighting has
been a wonderful asset in marketing these lovely
historical works of art. And once they are sold, I
always have a lovely picture to remember them by. Many
of my customers make photo albums with the photos of the
dolls they buy from me.

TEMPORARY
CUSTODIANS

People
often wonder how I can part with my antique dolls.Although I must admit that it is difficult at
times, and there are some that I never want to part
with, I always rationalize that we are only temporary
custodians and we cannot take them with us when we go.So we enjoy them now and pass them on later for
someone else to love them anew.And the best part is that they only appreciate in
value with time—so whatever you spend on them, it’s
a win/win situation!

DOLL
FRIENDS AROUND THE WORLD

Since
this doll obsession has taken over my life, I have sold
thousands of antique dolls. I have handled tens of
thousands of them and viewed even more than that in
museums, books, auctions, private collections and
catalogs.I know that all of this experience has made me a
recognized professional in this field and has earned me
the respect and trust of my wonderful doll friendsand customers in the USA, Europe, Japan,
Australia and South America and many other countries.
For this, I am so grateful to all of my wonderful doll
friends all around the world! Thank you for your trust,
your support and your friendship!

MY
FAMILY

Frank
hard at work

I
am also very fortunate that my husband, Frank, has
shared my love of dolls as well. Frank has accompanied
me on my doll adventures and he has become a doll
research expert. He spends many hours reading and
studying their history as well as the current market
fluctuations and trends in doll collecting.Frank is an invaluable part of this enterprise as
the shipper and packer of these precious antiques.Many of our customers are full of praise for
Frank’s excellent packing and shipping skills as well
as his facile ability to converse in “doll talk!”

A
Bevy of Beauties

I
am also proud to say that my
nineteen-year-old daughter, is taking a keen
interest in the dolls and has begun to
help support the family business in many
creative and youthful ways!After all—Dolls are all about children!Frank and I are always eager to hear her
opinion on the latest addition to the
doll list or website.But sometimes it is harder for her to
part with a doll that she has bonded
with.

We
still live in our old Victorian house,
which we share with many antique dolls,
three wonderful cats and our latest
family addition, Piccolo, our African
Gray Parrot.(We’re trying to teach her to speak
French).

YOUR
DOLL FRIEND

I
hope that this short biography has given you a better
insight about who I am.I am looking forward to becoming your doll friend
and working with you in developing or adding to your
collection and sharing our love of antique dolls
together. When you purchase a doll from me, you are not
only getting a beautiful antique and a piece of history,
you are getting a feeling of love and happiness that
will stay with you every time you play with or gaze at
your antique doll!